User:Baseballblake2

The history behind the book, "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," is very influential in the writing of the book. During the 1950's, the time the book is set in and was written, the Soviet Union was coming out of World War II and was trying to rebuild under Joseph Stalin. Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote the book from 1959-1962, but couldn't publish it in fear of more time in the gulags. Later, when Khrushchev came to power after Stalin died, was when he could finally publish it. This period, known as "The Thaw", was when people could start to criticize Stalin a little. The book at its release was a huge success and has been since its release.